The Atlantic Slave Trade

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The Atlantic Slave Trade
BY Kim and Greg
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Timeline
1502- First Slaves go to new world
1640-80 Slaves go to Caribbean on a large-scale
for sugar production
1794- French free slaves from French colonies
1794- US prohibits vessels to participate in
slave trade
1807- British Parliament bans the Atlantic slave
trade
1808- US bans slave trade
1815- At the Congress of Vienna Spain, Portugal,
France and the Netherlands to agree to abolish
the slave trade
1819- Britain positions a fleet of the west side
of Africa to prevent illegal traders
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1820- US sends vessels to help British against
pirates, it also makes slavery punishable by death
1825- US court declares slavery against natural
law
1833- Great Britain emancipates all its slaves in
the British West Indies
1863- Emancipation Proclamation given by Abraham
Lincoln
1865- Congress ratifies 13th amendment and ends
slavery
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Atlantic Slave Trade Routes
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The African Slave trade used two triangle routes
to transport slaves and goods (Red and Green on
map)
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The Beginning of the African Slave Trade
Slavery has gone on since the beginning of human
history, but the African slave trade began in
about 1444 when the several Africans were
kidnapped as gifts to Prince Henry. From that
point forward Africans were continually brought
to the Portuguese court to be servants or to be.
Domestic slavery in Africa had already been a
common practice, so the European traders were
welcomed and easily acquired slaves to be brought
back to Europe. It was not until the New World
was discovered that the slave trade really
started to flourish
Europeans needed the African slaves to work on
their sugar and tobacco plantations as well as
become servants in the Americas, for disease and
other factors had already eliminated much of the
native populations. At first it was the
Portuguese who dominated the slave trade, but
eventually the English and French also started
the practice. England was most dominant in
selling young Africans to work in the mines or
farm land in the Americas.
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The Spanish also played a very large role in
slave trade. They had already had some slaves
working in their copper mines, so when they
started to need more workers they realized that
the African Americans would do fine. By 1650 the
Spanish had delivered 300,000 slaves to the
Americas.
At the beginning of the slave trade Europeans
were forced to make raiding parties or kidnap
Africans and then transport them to the New
World, but eventually African rulers seeking
their own wealth started to sell Africans to the
Europeans for money and other goods. However,
most of the rulers were still forced to capture
Africans whether it was through war or small
raiding parties.
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Many people prospered because of the slave trade
so initially nobody was worried about how the
Africans were treated. The African rulers would
make money trading slaves to the European
traders. The European traders would get rich
selling them to plantations and mines. Finally,
the plantation and mine owners would get rich off
the work done by the Africans.
Most of the slaves ended up in South America
either in Brazil or the Caribbean Islands in
fact, over seventy percent of all the slaves
traded ended up in either of those places. At the
beginning of the slave trade and through most of
it very few slaves were introduced in the north
of North America however, once in North America
the slave population grew rapidly from about
400,000 to 2 million.
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The Voyage
Once the Africans were sold to European traders
they were transported across the Atlantic ocean
on a journey that is referred to by many as the
middle passage. Millions of Africans died during
the middle passage. They were malnourished and
kept in unsanitary conditions the entire trip. To
lower morale, the traders would pick people at
random and throw them overboard or kill them on
the spot. Some were denied food. Many more were
killed by disease on the way over. The Africans
were kept under the deck in overcrowded cells.
The middle passage lasted months and was not
pleasant for the crew or the slaves.
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Slave Economics
The slave trade provided valuable economics for
many European countries. Portugal and Spain
relied on the slave trade very much, especially
for plantation labor in their colonies in the
Americas. The increase in demand for sugar,
tobacco, cotton, and rum led more slaves into the
new world, especially colonies in Brazil and
Central America. In fact 90 of exported slaves
went to South America or the Caribbean. These
slaves were delivered too the New world by
different companies. Each country designated a
company to control the slave trade for that
country and its colonies. This meant the colonies
would have to, build forts, get the slaves,
transport them to the Americas, and then sell
them. The two groups of people that the companies
had to deal with were the farmers who were
getting the slaves and the merchants at home.
Farmers complained about the high price and poor
quality of the slaves. Free trade came about when
the companies failed to deliver enough slaves.
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The Effects of the Slave Trade
In general, the introduction of slaves to the New
World countries affected their overall cultures.
For example, slaves brought with them their
lifestyles including their food habits, and
language, along with their pastimes such as dance
and music, their religion, and all other aspects
of their lives. Although the introduction of
slaves had its own affect on individual
countries, these main parts of the lives of the
African people influenced them all.
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Haiti

Products from Haiti such as cocoa, cotton, sugar
cane, and coffee came into great demand, causing
there to be a great need for cheap labor. Due to
this, slaves began to be imported from the West
Coast of Africa. Slave labor soon became
necessary to maintain the countries economy.
With the increase of slaves, other problems soon
appeared. The slaves brought with them their
religion, language, and culture. The slaves
introduced their religious practices of voodoo,
which contrasted with the Catholic beliefs of the
French, who inhabited the island. Due to the
cruel treatment the slaves suffered under the
French, they built of a great resentment of their
captors, causing later problems. This created a
lasting class system in which light skinned
French Catholics were at odds with the darker
skinned, African voodoo people who made up the
majority of the population. This resentment led
to later slave revolts, and problems. The French
living in Haiti were later ousted from the area
during a slave rebellion, and Haiti became the
first nation to be ruled by independent Africans.
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Brazil
Brazil was another area that relied heavily on
the use of slaves for labor. With its land and
climate conditions, Brazil was ideal for the
growth of sugar cane, a popular product during
this time period. With the growing need for
sugar cane, came the growing need for slave
labor. With the help of the slaves, landowners
in Brazil were able to lead prosperous lives
selling sugar cane, and other products harvested
by the African slaves. Slaves in Brazil also
helped mine some of the nations wealth when gold
was discovered Minas Gerias in the 1690s, when
the Brazilians competed with the Portuguese for a
share in the newly discovered wealth.
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Cuba
Slaves began being seen in Cuba much earlier than
in any of the other New World countries, and
lasted until much later. The slaves greatly
contributed to the economy and population of
Cuba. The Portuguese, Spanish, and English all
brought slaves to Cuba, taking them from
different areas in Africa. The arrival of slaves
from all of these different areas led to cultural
diversity in Cuba, creating many different groups
of people. The different ethnic groups led to
warfare, and other problems between the people in
Cuba.
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The Caribbean
The Caribbean climate was ideal for such crops as
sugar and tobacco. The need for these products
in Europe led to an increased need for slave
labor throughout the Caribbean. Due to this
fact, slaves were imported by the hundreds into
the Caribbean region to work for slave owners who
quickly became extremely wealthy. The Africans
helped the people of the Caribbean, while also
causing problems such as beginning slave revolts.
The slaves that survived the harsh environment
they lived in, helped make up the majority of the
population on the island, leading to the majority
of Africans still living on the Caribbean islands
today.
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The United States
The slave trade affected the United States in
many ways. With the arrival of slaves in the
colonies, wealthy people were able to buy slaves
and begin successful plantations for crops such
as cotton. Slaves helped the United States
become a successful area with a strong economy.
Slaves also brought on problems such as revolts,
and were the main reason for programs like the
Underground Railroad. African Americans still
make up 10 of the population in the United
States today.
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How and When the Slave Trade Ended in Various
Areas
In general, a couple of main contributing factors
led to the decline and abolition of the slave
trade in most countries. Some of the factors
include that there was an exhaustion of supplies,
because slavery had evolved into a system of
dependant labor, and because it was officially
abolished in most countries.
England
England was the first nation to officially
abolish slavery. The English Quakers initiated
the British abolition movement in 1783 when they
began an antislavery petition. Many believe that
slavery here was abolished because the British
began to move their concentrated from the
Caribbean in the west, to India in the east. At
this time, England switched their main economic
policy from protectionism to laissez-faire. The
abolition of slavery in England served as an
impetus for the abolition of slavery in other
nations.
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Haiti
The slave trade in Haiti ended in 1791, when the
slaves organized a successful rebellion, and took
over the island from the French. After ousting
all French from the island, they founded the
first nation to be ruled by all Africans. In
1804, the Haitians were officially recognized as
emancipated people. This rebellion ended the
slave trade in Haiti, although American marines
later regulated it.
Brazil
The slave trade ended abruptly in Brazil with the
abolition of slavery in 1888. Workers from
Italy, France, and other countries traveled into
Brazil to work on the plantations. Later, the
coffee industry toppled, causing problems
throughout the country.
Cuba
The slave trade began ending as early as 1526,
when a Royal Decree allowed Cuban slaves to buy
their freedom. After this, freed slaves lived
and interacted with the Spaniards, that still
controlled the island.
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The Caribbean
The slave trade in the Caribbean began to end in
1791, with a widespread slave uprising. Later,
in 1794, The French National Convention
emancipated all French colonial slaves. This
convention ended the slave trade in the
Caribbean.
The United States
The antislavery movement in the United States had
many problems. Mainly, the country was divided
over the issue. Most of the Northern states had
already voluntarily abolished slavery, but most
of the Southern states relied heavily on slaves
to operate the many plantations. This conflict
eventually led to the Civil War, and later the
Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves
in 1808.
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Conclusion
In conclusion we believe that the slave trade was
an important piece of our history, despite the
consequences that followed. There were many
reasons for the slave trade. The Europeans needed
laborers for their plantations and mines in the
New World. The native peoples in these lands
could not survive the diseases that the Europeans
gave to them, so the Europeans substituted the
Africans for their labor needs. The European
countries also recognized the advantages of using
the Africans. They already had vast knowledge of
how to farm and they did not know where to go if
they escaped. In the end however, we believe
that the slave trade was brought upon by greed.
The Europeans could have paid other Europeans to
work for them, but they wanted a cheap workforce
that they did not have to pay. They did not have
to worry about mistreating the workers either
because they couldnt quit. It was only the
Europeans value of money over human life that
kept the slave trade going as long as it did. It
wasnt until the English started to realize the
pain that they were putting their fellow man
through that the slave trade was ended.
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Justification
We do not feel that there was any justification
in the slave trade. The Europeans had no right to
destroy the lives of so many African people just
because they needed someone to plant their sugar
cane. The no ones life is worth another mans
fortune. Even though the course of history would
have changed dramatically, we believe that it
would have been better without the Atlantic Slave
Trade.